Machine for mining coal



P 6, 1952 v w. s. GALLOWAY 2,610,840

MACHINE FOR MINING COAL Filed March 11, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l 24 F/G./.2s

F/GZ.

Gau w a W1 vim Sh nventor a; Attorney Sept. 16, 1952 w. s. GALLOWAYMACHINE FOR MINING COAL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 11, 1949 oo oo I" 8MW i Attorneys,

Patented Sept. 16, 1952 UNITED- STATE.

7 MACHINE FOR MINING COAL I William S. Galloway, Glasgow, Scotland,assignor to Mavor &' Coulson, Limited, Glasgow, scotland ApplicationMarch. 11, 1949-, sear no. 81,063 In Great Britain my 1 1947 a 7 Claims.1 g

This invention relates to a mining machine of a previously proposed typein use of which cutting of coal or other mineral is effected by a directshearing or chisel-like action applied by a wedge-like cutter in ahorizontal direction behind the face of a mineral seam so as to Shearthe mineral away in lumps from the seam to a height approximately fromfloor to roof of the mine.

The present invention comprises amachine for mining coal and otherminerals from a mineral seam, by initially stripping an upperlevelsection of mineral from a length of the face of the seam, performing anintermediate operation (or more than one intermediate operation)consisting of stripping'from said length a lower level section ofmineral and also a secti'o'n at the upper level but at a greater depthfrom the face of the seam, and finally stripping a 'lowe'r-levelsection'of mineralleft projecting liklefa-ledge throughout said length.

,The invention also comprises a mining machine of the type stated whichadvances along the face of a mineral seam from position to position, themachine having a composite cutter head comprising a group of at leastfour individual wedge-like cutters that are-arranged a'bove-and-belowone another and side-by-side and have cylinder-and-ram unitsrespectively for forcing the'cutters forwards in a determinate order soas to strip mineral section by section from-the face. J The cutter headmay-include an inclined bottorncutter for stripping mineral from themine 'flo'orand lifting it in the manner of a shovel.

The machine is a vehicle which can be advarice'd from position toposition and in each position performs the initial stripping and the oneor more intermediate stripping operations and which thereafter isadvanced to another position to deal-with the next length of the seam."I-he final stripping may be performed during "each-advance of themachine;

A-coal-mining machine embodying the invention is shown as an example inthe accompanyiing drawings, in which: i Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofthe machine and Fig. 2isa corresponding plan. Fig: 3 is aside elevation,drawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2, of a central component ofthe machine which may be regarded as the propulsive vehicular structureof the machine. Fig. 4" is a diagrammatic plan partly in section,showing one of the wedg liliecutters, the section being approximatelyon. theline. IV-IV of" Fig; 1

The machine shown is double-ended; that is to say. the machine has acompositejcutter head at each end so that it can; work either to rightor left, as viewed. say in Figs. 1 and 2. The propulsive vehicularstructure according-to Fig; 23* carries both cutter heads, which projectfrom said structure in opposite directions.

In the drawings, the floor of" the mine is indicated by A, the roof by Band the coal ,seam by C. The machine is shown inFigL-Z po'sition'ed in aplane prepared for it beyond the left hand end oithe seam; the machinebeing against a face- D which is co-plana'r' with the new face about tohe formed by the machine behind and parallel to the. previously formedface E or the seam C.

The o composite cutter heads of the ma chine are similar; a In theexample each of: the

endless tracks l2,- or so-called. crawlers. which.

are fitted with rubber" pads I2-A to enh'ance the frictional grip uponthemine floor A. The op eration of the tracks I 2 is controlled by meansof a handle l3-.' It is from-the frame. I I' that aframework l dcarrying the two groups. often cutters extends in opposite directions; 1

Each cutter is secured to the movable cylinder l5 of one of a group'o'ften hydraulic units',-which 1 are arranged as a compactbatterye The: ramIG of each of these-units is-a' stationary fixture on the framework Mandis provided with :inlet and outlet ports [1 I and: I8! These .portsa'reconnected to pipes 19 and Zfl for the hydraulic liquid under the controlof a distributor valve assembly 2| incorporated in a hydraulic systemincluding as usual a high-pressure pump: 22 which is driven byanelectric motor 23-supp'lied through a flexible 'cableizd'andcontrolledby a'starter 25. "It' is this motor 23*which' is: the powerunit of the endless tracks" l2. These tracks are driven'under control ofthe handle by the motor. through gearing which comprises interme'sliingbevel" gears 26, intermeshing gearwheels 21 driven thereby, andpin-wheelsv 28..secured to: the shaft 28 of the second of thesegearwh'eels. -These pin-wheels mesh with sprocislet-wheels; 30 which aremounted on a shaft 2-9 and carry the endless tracks I2 at one end-ofthevehicle frame Ila; r g

Thehydraulic systemalso includes a. tank 3! for the hydraulic liquid.The pump 22 as'usual .face E). half feet long, so that in each positionof the I a pair of the hydraulic units I5, I6 at each end of themachine, namely the units operating the Each of four of these valves,namely 4 ated; and its valve handle 2I may be manipulated so that thecutter I is operated either by itself or simultaneously with the nextadvance of the machine by operation of the endless tracks I2 undercontrol of the handle I3 to an extent of one-and-a-half feet into itsnext position. In the advance of the machine, the bottom 35 of thewedge-like head strips and scoops up any bed of coal left on the floor Aby the lower cutters 2 to III, and the entire head forces the brokendown coal outwards above the ramp 36. The complete cycle of operationsmay be I designed to occupy about one minute. Thus, it

following four pairs of cutters; 2 and 3; 4 and 5; 6

and 1; and 8 and 9. The extreme cutters of each group of ten, namely thecutters I and I0, have their hydraulic units I5, [6 controlledindividually by the valves with the handles 2I and 2|. In Fig. 4, thepipes I9 and for two units, one at each end of the machine, and the onehandle 2| controlling them are shown. It is also shown that the pipesI9, 20 connected to the piston I6 of the cutter 2 have extensions I9A,20A which are connected to the piston of the simultaneously operatingcutter 3 (not shown in Fig. 4). In distinction the pipes I9, 20 for theextreme cutters I and I0 have no such extensions seeing that thesecutters operate individually.

The cutters I to II! are wedge-like in form .(Figs. 2 and 4) and are soarranged that when all of them are fully withdrawn they present aninclined front face which inclines outwards and rearwards to give anoverall wedge effect. In Fig. 1, the pair of cutters 4 and 5 are shownadvanced, whereas Fig. 2 shows two upper-row cutters 3 and 5 advanced,the others being all fully withdrawn. The assembly of cutters rests upona bottom cutter whose front face is similarly inclined. v

A coal-deflecting ramp 36 secured to the outer side of the'machine ateach end thereof inclines upwards from the bottom cutter, being locatedalongside the lowermost level of the coal face.

In the example, the total width of the cutter head measures five feet sothat each cutter is designed to cut out a section of coal to a depth ofone foot (perpendicular to the plane of the The stroke of each ram isone-and-amachine it strips from the coal face a length of one-and-a-halffeet to a depth of five feet.

. In operation, atthe starting end (say, the

left hand end) of the seam C a place is cut for the machine, and it ismanoeuvred into position; say, as shown in Fig. 2. Assume that theright-hand end cutters are fully withdrawn and that they come more orless against the left- .hand end of the seam C. The operator turns thehandle 2| to set only the first cutter I.in operation, this cutter beingin the upper row and at the outer side of the group of ten cutters. Thiscutter I strips out from the seam C an upper section of coal to a depthof one foot from the coal faceE. .After a full advance of the cutter,the handle 2I is turned so that the cutter is quickly withdrawn. Next,the handle M is manipulated so that the. first lower and second uppercutters 2 and 3 forming a pair simultaneously are advanced andthereafter withdrawn. Next, the handle 2I is manipulated so that thesecond lower and third upper cutters 4 and 5 simultaneously are advancedand withdrawn. This procedure is continued. Eventually all but the fifthlower cutter I0 have been operwill be manifest that the machine advancesstepwise along the coal seam, stripping off coal to a depth of aboutfive feet after each step, the length of which step is aboutone-and-a-half feet.

Coal above the level of the upper row of cutters. can be stripped offfrom the roof manually without difliculty When the machine reaches theright-hand end of the coal seam, it is again manoeuvred into a preparedposition at that end but five feet further into the coal seam, andthereafter the machine is driven so as to return stepwise in theopposite direction. In this return motion, prior to each step thecutters I to II] at the left hand end of the machine are operated in theorder already described under the control of their valve handles 2I to2I This method of coal-getting is facilitated by use of a conveyorarranged alongside the coal face, between it and a row of roof props;and this conveyor receives from the machine the coal stripped by it asit works along the coal face.

It will be manifest that the machine performs the following method ofmining coal length by length from the seam C, namely: initially thecutter I strips an upper-level section of mineral from a length of theface of the seam; the pairs of cutters 2 and 3, 4 'and 5 and so on,acting In succession, perform an intermediate series of operations eachconsisting of stripping from said length a lower-level section of coaland simultaneously a section at the upper level but at a greater depthfrom the original coal face; finally the cutter [0 strips a lower-levelsection of coal left-projecting like a ledge throughout said length.

In the example shown, the machine has a group of five upper and fivelower cutters at each end. However, there may be any other practicablenumber of cutters. There would be two upper and two lower cutters in thesimplest construction of the machine. In use of such a machine, therewould be only one pair of simultaneously acting upper and lower cutters,and they would perform only one intermediate operation of stripping alower-level section and simultaneously an upper-level section at greaterdepth.

In the example, the machine is a vehicle of the crawler type.- Instead,it may have any other means of propulsion or haulage; and it may includemeans such as jacks for anchoring it between the fioor and roof in eachworking position.

The machine itself may have means for stripping coal'from the roof. Forinstance, a horizontally extending roof cutter may be connected to orembodied in the top of the wedge-like head.

Although in the example shown the hydraulic units of the cutters areoperated in proper order by hand operation of the valve handles 2 I to2I', the arrangement may be such that the valves may be operated in theproper order and at the proper times under the control of anyconventional timing mechanism driven from the motor 23.

I claim:

1. A mining machine of the type stated for shearing mineral from theface of a seam throughout approximately the full height from floor toroof of the seam, comprising an assembly including four wedge-likecutters, two of them being arranged side-by-side at an upper level andthe other two being arranged side-by-side at a lower level, the uppercutters being directly above the lower cutters respectively,cylinder-and-ram units connected to said cutters, each to each, so thatwhen said units are operated they thrust forward the cuttersrespectively, and control means connected to said units and designed tooperate them in the following sequence: initially an outer first cutterat one level is advanced individually to wedge out a section of mineralfrom the face of the seam, thereafter an outer second cutter at theother level and an inner third cutter at the said one level are advancedsimultaneously so that the second wedges off mineral left out-standingby the first and the third wedges out a new section and finally thefourth cutter, namely the inner cutter at said other level, is advancedto wedge oil the mineral left out-standing by the third.

2. A mining machine according to claim 1 in which there are a series offour or other even number of wedge-like cutters, half of them at anupper level and the other half of them at a lower level, in which thecontrol means includes two terminal controllers connected to thecylinder-and-ram units of the first and last cutters of the series atdifferent levels for operation of said cutters individually, and inwhich the cylinder-and-ram units of the remaining cutters at differentlevels and at different depths in relation to the face of the seam areconnected as a pair or pairs to one or more intermediate controllers sothat said cutters operate as a pair or in pairs.

3. A mining machine as claimed by claim 2 in which it is thecylinder-and-ram units of the outermost upper cutter and the innermostlower cutter, respectively, that are individually connected to the twoterminal controllers for operation of said cutters individually as thefirst and last members of the series of cutters.

4. A mining machine according to claim 1 in which the cylinder-and-ramunits and their Wedge-like cutters are so arranged that said cutterswhen in retracted position combine to form a single large wedge.

5.A mining machine of the time stated for shearing mineral from the faceof a seam throughout approximately the full height from fioor to roof ofthe seam, comprising an assembly of an even number, being at least six,of wedgelike cutters, half of them being arranged side-byside at anupper level and the other half of them being arranged side-by-side at alower level, each upper cutter being directly above a lower cutter andall of said cutters forming a series starting with one of the twooutermost cutters at one of said levels and ending with that one of theinnermost cutters which is at the other of said levels, cylinder-and-ramunits connected to said cutters, each to each, so that when said unitsare operated they thrust forward the cutters respectively, and controlmeans connected to said units and comprising two controllers connectedto the cylinderand-ram units of the first and last cutters of the seriesfor operation of said cutters individually. and a plurality ofadditional controllers each connected to the cylinder-and-ram units of apair of adjacent cutters at different levels and sidewise offset so thatthe cutters of the series excepting the first and last will be operatedin pairs, the cutters of each pair acting simultaneously.

6. A mining machine as claimed by claim 5 in which it is thecylinder-and-ram units oi the outermost upper cutter and the innermostlower cutter, respectively, that are individually connected to the twofirst-mentioned controllers for operation individually of said cuttersas the first and last members of the series.

7. A mining machine according to claim 5 in which the cylinder-and-ramunits and their wedge-like cutters are so arranged that said outterswhen in retracted position combine to form a single large wedge.

WILLIAM S. GALLOWAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

